The second cat
by Sephiroth's samurai girl
Summary: Kokuyo Sohma is the cat however he was born too early and so there are two cats. He mets Akito one day who begins to use him so she can get closer to Tohru. Having never met any of them before Kokuyo knows nothing of her evilness or power over the house.
1. The beginning

Note: This is my first ever Fanfic so I'm going to work my best at it. Oh and you know the usual, I don't own fruits basket although I wish I did.

Jumping out of the pool Kokuyo ran a hand through his jet black hair. He dyed it nearly every day so no one could see the orange roots that held the secret to his identity. His hair came down to the tips of his ears but stopped before it met his burning red eyes.  
Going into the changing rooms he changed into his usual black ensemble. He wore a pair of jeans that seemed to be a size too big for him; they were made of a thin-ish material not the usual denim like everyone else. On top he pulled on a plain black long sleeved t-shirt that covered his beads on his left wrist. He looked down as he saw them disappear under the material and silently cursed himself for being this way.  
He continued to get dressed, putting on a pair of black and grey sneakers that were hidden under his jeans. Putting the rest of his wet things into his bag he flung it over his shoulder and left the pool.  
He had finished his training for the day but didn't really want to go home yet. He decided to take the long way home cutting through the park that led to the main house.

Back at the estate Kokuyo dropped his bag in the corner of his small room. It was a dark cramped room but could hold a desk, bed and his books for studying. Next to the window was a shelf that held a few books on swimming and a couple of novels. The walls were painted black, done by himself years ago, but had a few posters on them making it seem a little lighter.  
Sitting next to the window Kokuyo rested his head on his arm feeling the dampness of his hair. It was cold out but getting warmer now each day so he didn't mind having the window open.  
Looking out he could see the other members of the family going about their business, passing him by as if he never existed. They all knew who he was, and although the 'outside' people didn't know about his curse they did know about his past, which was enough for them.  
Sighing he stared out the window wondering how long it would be now until he had to move into the neko room. "It'd be nice to be able to talk to just one person before I graduate, but seeing as know one wants to know me I guess I'm screwed."  
None of the other cursed members had really met him before so it wasn't likely they even knew about him. Sad really but he'd always stayed in his room since the incident and none of them knew he dyed his hair so they'd probably think he was just some kid in the Sohma family.

People passed him who he'd seen everyday yet had never spoken to, they didn't know who he was or if they did, they didn't show it. He stared at the other building in the area wondering what was in them. He'd probably never know anything else besides the main house and the pool.

Sitting up he left the window and poked his head through his door. No one was around inside, although no one even went near his room, only the servants. A woman walked passed and he asked for a drink, she said nothing but nodded and looked at him. She knew who he was and had heard what he'd done so was wary of him. She returned a little later and handed him a glass of water before quickly leaving him alone once more.

He drank the water feeling a little depressed, he'd never spoken to half the people here but they hated him none the less. He set the glass down and decided to take a walk through the house.

He didn't normally do something like that but he felt extremely bored and wanted a bit of excitement. Closing the door behind him he looked around to see if anyone was around. Once he made sure there was no one he walked slowly down the hall looking out each window as he did.

As he wandered through the halls of the Sohma estate Kokuyo came across a door that was slightly opened. Looking though he saw that there was a woman there; she seemed to be angry about something and was on her own like himself. This woman of course was Akito but as he'd never met the head of the family he had no idea who she was. Opening the door slightly he looked into to see that there definitely wasn't anyone else in the room. He stepped forward and looked at her.

"Um, excuse me? Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt but you seemed worried about something. Is everything ok?" He spoke softly to her not really knowing who this woman was. She looked ill and rather pale but when he looked again he could see that she had a very strong look about her.

He sat near her looking concerned but didn't say anything and simply waited fro her reply hoping she would introduce herself.

She looked up at him and smiled rather sweetly, "I'm Akito Sohma, who are you?" She moved to face him the smiled not wavering, although she seemed happy she really had a million evil plans running through her mind of what she could do with this boy.


	2. The power of a leader

Note: I know I've been saying Akito is a woman in this and for those of you that haven't read the Japanese manga then I'd just like you to know that she is a SHE. There's a picture in the last volume, the number has slipped my mind, where it shows Akito with boobs! So please understand that I am writing this as if it were after this has been revealed.

Previously:

She looked up at him and smiled rather sweetly, "I'm Akito Sohma, who are you?" She moved to face him the smiled not wavering, although she seemed happy she really had a million evil plans running through her mind of what she could do with this boy.

He was startled how nicely she smiled for someone so frail looking.

Her dark hair, a similar colour to his, fell in front her eyes but he could still see the glimmer emanating from them. Bone white skin covered her body making her seem ghostly but at the same time it added to that haunting smile. She wore a traditional two layered yukata that hung from her small, fragile figure. The pastel colours appeared to blend in with her pale complexion making her look even more sickly.

"Oh, I'm Kokuyo, Kokuyo Sohma. Are you sure you're ok? I mean, you don't look too good and you're here on your own." He smiled back at her slightly.

The room they were in was dark, the only light coming from the two sliding doors in front of them opening onto the garden. A small bird flew past him and landed on Akito's outstretched hand. She watched it for a while, switching it from one hand to the other. Then, standing she returned it to its cage next to her bed.

Locking the cage door she turned back to Kokuyo who was looking up at her from where he sat.

"Tell me, as you live on the "inside" I assume you know about the curse, yes? So, are you one of the zodiac or just a relation?" She spoke quietly but clearly. He stared at her for a few seconds before nodding, "Yeah, I'm cursed by the Cat. I know there's another Cat but apparently I was born too soon. So now I live in the back of the house away from everyone so they don't figure out who I am."

He watched for a reaction but she simply continued to smile, "I see, that is very interesting to know. I'd head from the others that there was an extra Cat, but I didn't know who it was."

Her smile had faltered slightly when he'd mentioned the cat, but she had been able to fix it before he noticed.

"_Oh this is just too perfect. With this new Cat I can finally be rid of that loathsome Tohru Honda girl." _She quickly began formulating a plan.

While she was thinking, Kokuyo got up, feeling it was time to leave, and headed for the door he first entered from. "I should be going now. I'm sure you're busy and I have some studying to do. It was nice talking to you Akito, I'll have to come back some…"

"Wait!" she almost shouted it to him, trying to stop him before he left, and before she could set her plan into motion. "Before you go could I ask you something?"

He saw that he smile was fading fast and being replaced with a look of sadness and desperation. "Sure, what is it?" he turned away from the door but didn't move any closer.

"Our family has a problem, there's this girl, you see, and she's trying to break us all up. The curse will never be broken unless we all stay together." Akito looked as if she was about to start crying, but inside she felt like laughing.

"_That boy is so foolish, look at him; he believes everything I'm telling him. This could work out better than I ever thought." _His face was clouded with concern, not just for the family but for himself. He'd never known the curse could be broken and now some girl wanted to stop that from happening. "What do you want me to do about it?" It was obvious where this was heading so he thought it best to ask now.

"This girl, this Tohru Honda, is currently living with Shigure, the Dog, Yuki, the Rat and Kyo, the other Cat. These three Sohma men are blinded by her mask of kindness and have forgotten what needs to happen to break the curse. So, to solve this problem I have come up with two solutions to get rid of this evil Honda girl; either erase her memory of the entire family, or get rid of her permanently and kill her."

He gasped at her suggestion, "That's murder though! Surely you don't want me to kill the girl!" Her smile returned but it was missing the kindness it had before, it was cold and unfeeling, "That's exactly what I'm saying. You only have a few months left before you graduate. Meaning, unless the curse is broken, you have just a few months of freedom left. However, if the curse is broken, you will no longer be the cat and therefore be able to live where you like."

His surprise turned to confusion, "Hey, I never said how long I've got left. How can you know that?" Akito shrugged, "It's simple really, I know this because I have to. The head of the Sohma house has to know these things if they want to break the curse. Don't you understand? If we get rid of the Honda girl, everyone will come back to me and the curse will be broken."

The room was silent apart from the movements of the small bird in its cage. Sunlight shone through reaching the base of the door where Kokuyo stood. A look of amazement spread across his face as he realised this fragile woman was the head of the estate.

She knew everything about the curse so couldn't be lying about the cure. She had the most to lose too if it wasn't broken, so there was no chance she would make it up.

He was suddenly overwhelmed with anger, how could this Tohru Honda do this to them! She must have a grudge against the family to want to break them up. She's the one in front of his freedom, in front of the rest of his life.

No way would he let some girl, that wasn't even a Sohma, destroy his life.

"I'll do it. I'll get rid of that girl for the family, and for myself. I'll end the girl's life, then the curse." His eyes burned red with determination as he left Akito's room and headed out the main gates.

Tohru Honda was going to get a visitor.

Of course, he would have to befriend her first. He would steal her friendship then when she trusted him enough he would kill her, reuniting the zodiacs and freeing himself from the curse.


	3. In the Dog house

Previously:

He was suddenly overwhelmed with anger, how could this Tohru Honda do this to them! She must have a grudge against the family to want to break them up. She's the one in front of his freedom, in front of the rest of his life.

No way would he let some girl, that wasn't even a Sohma, destroy his life.

"I'll do it. I'll get rid of that girl for the family, and for myself. I'll end the girl's life, then the curse." His eyes burned red with determination as he left Akito's room and headed out the main gates.

Tohru Honda was going to get a visitor.

Of course, he would have to befriend her first. He would steal her friendship then when she trusted him enough he would kill her, reuniting the zodiacs and freeing himself from the curse.

It was just a short walk from the estate before Kokuyo arrived at the Sohma woods. The trees were far enough apart to let a little light through the canopy, allowing him to see all the plants and animals surrounding him. The path he'd followed was a simple gravel trail only wide enough for one person to walk along at a time. The trees were home to a number of birds who sang in the afternoon sun above his head.

As he was walking, plans of murder ran through his mind. There were just so many options to choose from.

"_I guess the easiest way would be poison or something like that, but then again suffocation should be quite easy too. Stabbing could get messy if I don't do it right, so I think I'll leave that out. Drowning would be best for me but doing it in the pool could look suspicious. _

_So, I'll do either poisoning or suffocation. Suffocation would be the cheapest seeing as I'd have to go and buy the poison. Right, it's going to be death by suffocation then."_

Noticing that the trees on his left had begun to thin out he stopped and looked to see why. Looking through the trees he saw that the ground had dropped away and down the small hill was the house he was searching for. The Sohma house wasn't even half the size of the estate, but looked a lot more welcoming. He continued to inspect the house as he walked down the hill towards it. There appeared to be two floors, a ground level and an upstairs but it seemed that there was someone on the roof as well.

A rather large garden surrounded the area, full with flowers and trees. A pond ran off into the woods and vanished behind the house. As he arrived at the front door he noticed that it was being held together with small bits of tape. He knocked lightly on the wood and waited for someone to answer.

A tall man opened the door, smiling down at Kokuyo, he looked a little confused. "Oh my, who do we have here? Could it be another visitor from the Sohma estate? Do come in, I'm the owner of this fine establishment, Shigure Sohma." He looked at Kokuyo for a while before moving back to let him in.

Shigure was a tall, rather thin man. His hair was black like his own but also had a brown tinge to it. As it was quite long it fell below his eyes, however, was brushed to the side out of the way. He wore a grey/brown men's yukata that was loosely wrapped around his body.

The long sleeves of the robe were folded in front hiding his arms except the very tips of his fingers. A small pair of glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, they were thin reading glasses, he wore them when he was working. A pen was partially hidden under his hair where he'd put it behind his ear. It was a classical old fountain pen that blended in with his dark hair. A trail of smoke rose from the cigarette in his hand. It was so close to his sleeve it was in danger of catching fire.

Entering the house he saw it was definitely smaller than the estate; the hall was narrow compared to the halls of the estate, but for a normal house it appeared to be very luxurious.

The hall was connected to four other rooms; the kitchen on the first left, the living room after that, the dinning room on the first right followed by Shigure's room/office and the bathroom. There was a flight of stairs on his right leading to what he assumed to be the bedrooms and bathroom. He'd look around later when he had more time, for now he wanted to focus on the matter at hand

"So what might you be doing here? It's been a while since we've had a visitor." Shigure's polite voice pulled him from his thoughts, he'd not yet thought what he would say when he arrived at the house so had to think quickly for a reason of his visit.

"Well, I've heard about the girl who's been living here, and that the other zodiacs have come to see her, so I decided to visit her as well. My name is Kokuyo Sohma, I live at the estate."

Shigure looked at him, having not seen him before and the mention of the zodiac, he found it odd that a Sohma would talk so openly about it. "When you say 'other' zodiac, do you mean that you're a zodiac too? It seems strange that you would claim to be one when I've met all thirteen and am one myself. Please explain, if you don't mind."

Kokuyo thought it weird that Shigure hadn't heard of the second cat, he hadn't even reacted to his name.

"_Maybe it's because he lives out here that he's never heard of me. Or, maybe it's because I've never been to New Years or really left the house except to go swimming." _

He sighed and smiled. "Well, it's because I'm another Cat. I was born too soon so there's two of us. Apparently, I was born just a few seconds after the first Cat, so we're both the same age; eighteen. I've never even met him but I guess that's because I always stay in my room at the estate. Would be nice to see what he's like though."

Shigure looked slightly shocked; a second zodiac being born while the other was alive was rare but another Cat was near impossible. "Wow, I didn't know anything about that. Ah well, que sera sera, nothing we can do about it now. However, I'm afraid our dear flower isn't here right now. No, she's out working until later, so we're here all alone without her company. Of course, you can wait here with us if you want. She shouldn't be too much longer now." He closed the door behind them once Kokuyo accepted his offer. "The others should be in the living room; it's at the end of the hall on the left."

Kokuyo took off his shoes and followed Shigure to the door that was half open, inside the room sat two boys the same as himself. One of them had long silver/grey hair and the most amazing purple eyes he'd even seen, it was hard to believe that he was actually a guy. His facial features were more like a girl's and he was as slim as most girls too.

"_This must be Yuki the Rat; he has that smug look all the Rats are said to have. He looks like a Sohma though, same handsome features all of us have." _

Looking away from Yuki he saw the other guy who was sat at the opposite end of the table to the Rat. His hair was bright orange, the same colour as his natural hair and his eyes burned with the same red flame as his own. Looking at him was like looking into a mirror; their hair styles were a little different but the length was the same, they wore they same black t-shirt and apart from the hair styles the only real difference was their tastes in colour.

"_Whoa! This must be the other Cat, Kyo. Wonder what he's like, maybe we have the same personality?" _

"Shigure, who the hell's this, not like you to invite people round." Kyo stood up, his face full of anger for no reason what so ever. As he stood he saw that Kokuyo stepped back slightly so they weren't so close as to see they were the very same height.

"_Who is this guy? It feels like I know him, but I'm sure I've never seen him before in my life. And what's with the moving away from me?"_

Kokuyo turned as Shigure appeared behind him, standing next to him he smiled at the two cursed boys. "This is Kokuyo Sohma, he's come from the estate to visit our precious flower; Tohru. He's going to be waiting here with us until she comes home." Looking over to Kyo who was still standing and looking quite annoyed, Shigure sighed and motioned for the two Cats to sit down. "Kyo, do try not to scare the poor boy. He's like you, you know."

Yuki's eyes bolted up towards Kane who was just about to sit down. Kyo looked over to Kokuyo with a shocked expression. "You mean that you're a Cat!" Kane nodded slowly and was opening his mouth to explain his situation when he heard the front door slide open.

"Shigure, Yuki, Kyo! I'm home!" A bright cheerful voice echoed through the house, it belonged to a young girl. She appeared in the doorway with a huge smile on her face. The three Sohma men broke into smiles, even Kyo who didn't seem capable of it due to the shock of finding another Cat.

"Miss Honda, welcome home. We've been waiting for you." Yuki stood smiling still and moved so she could sit down with them all.

"Ah, my dear Tohru! You have a special guest from the Sohma estate, this is Kokuyo Sohma. He's very special because he's another Cat like Kyo here." Tohru's eyes lit up as she looked at him, he smiled slightly in return wondering why she was so pleased to meet another Cat. She put her bag down and bowed a little. "It's nice to meet you Kokuyo, my name is Tohru Honda."

He nodded and forced a smiled as she bowed. This was the girl he'd been waiting for; the girl he had to and would eventually kill.

Note: I apologise for taking so long on the chapter but with my exams out the way now I should be able to post the fourth much sooner. I will also be working on getting the first chapter ready for my new fic that follows the struggles of Kane Sohma, the Rooster after being attacked by the head of the family Ryuunosuke. This one will be set years after the last cursed member of the current generation has died and will feature an all new cast.


End file.
